Increasingly, Wastewater Treatment Facilities (WWTFs) are called to remove
bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals (PBTs). This class of chemicals includes
emerging pollutants such as the brominated flame retardants, polybrominated
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)

Little is known how the different sludge treatment processes affect the fate
of PBDEs. Few data are available on concentrations of PBDEs in sewage, sludges
and biosolids (treated sewage sludge), however, those that are available suggest
a significant presence.

This research seeks to document the presence and level of PBDEs in New Jersey
sewage, sludges and biosolids from selected WWTF, and to determine whether
environmentally relevant congeners of PBDEs are transformed or detoxified
during one sludge treatment process—anaerobic digestion. The project
will document the ability of anaerobic digestion to dehalogenate/detoxify
selected environmentally relevant congeners of PBDEs, and prepare a full proposal
to the EPA and/or the National Science Foundation for a broader assessment
of the life cycle of halogenated PBTs, including PBDEs in the wastewater treatment
process from influent to final disposal